Nauseating...

Interesting fact: People that live on boats get 'land sickness' when they come onto land.

These Bajau children I met off the coast of Sabah, Malayasia are no exception. Living permanently on boats, their family claims no nationality and they have no passports. They move around the ocean along with an extended family group comprising a handful of small motorised boats. Where ever they lay their anchor... that's their home.

. . .

I once spent 2 weeks onboard a small boat sailing in the Mediterranean Sea. When we eventually came onshore I tried to take a shower at the port and the cubicle started spinning so violently around me that I fell over and banged my head its tiled wall drawing quite a bit of blood.

Have you ever played that drinking game where you down pint of beer and then spin around ten times with your forehead planted on a stick in the ground? Well that was how land sickness manifested for me.

@timothyallen

Sea sick? Sleep it off in a gently swaying hammock

Addendum: The girls in the first photograph are wearing burak on their faces. It is a paste made from pounded rice and tumeric which (I was told) has a couple of functions... namely serving as a sun block but also as a cultural signal that a woman is unmarried.

Addendum 2: After a little digging on the net... it turns out that Tumeric is quite well known as having beneficial effects on skin... most notably its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial qualities.

Disclosure: Posts on TravelFeed may contain affiliate links. See affiliate disclosure.